The judge predicts that the public will not be as bad with Caroline Ellison

Addressing Ellison directly, the judge acknowledged that her cooperation “came at a serious emotional and personal cost” and predicted that the backlash and scrutiny she faced would “probably” wear off.

“Every part of your life has been turned upside down and made public to an unusual degree,” Kaplan said. “And now that’s probably, hopefully relaxing.”

Ellison, who pleaded guilty to conspiring with Bankman-Fried in the $11 billion fraud scheme, testified at his trial how the pair used Alameda Research, his hedge fund, to invest billions of dollars worth of seized assets in secret from FTX customers. cryptocurrency exchange controlled by Bankman-Fried.

Kaplan eventually sentenced Bankman-Fried to 25 years in prison. Although the judge spoke favorably of Ellison, he said he could not let her go free.

Ellison’s lawyers and prosecutors have each spoken of the intense public scrutiny that has changed his life since FTX collapsed in November 2022.

“Her physical appearance has been the subject of fascination and scrutiny on the internet,” her lawyer, Anjan Sahni, told the judge at Tuesday’s sentencing hearing.

“She was forced to live in hiding,” he added.

Before his trial last fall, Bankman-Fried leaked her private diary entries to The New York Times, prompting Kaplan to charge him with “witness tampering” and send him to prison.

Bankman-Fried’s internal romantic relationship with Ellison, dating back to their time together at the trading firm Jane Street, was the subject of some of the evidence in the case.

In the journal articles, Ellison talked about how he sought to impress Bankman-Fried, who reached the heights of technology, finance and politics at the helm of FTX.

“She was in love with him from the beginning,” Sahni told the judge at the sentencing hearing. “And then she saw him achieve stunning success.”

Ellison “couldn’t bring himself to leave Bankman-Fried’s orbit,” Sahni said.

“I found myself drifting off,” Ellison told the judge in her own remarks Tuesday. “I subordinated my own values ​​to the end of Bankman-Fried.”

Kaplan said he believes Bankman-Fried “exploited” Ellison.

“You are a very strong person in some ways. But you are not inviolable,” the judge said. “Somehow, for some reason—it’s hard for me to understand—Mr. Bankman-Fried had your kryptonite.” You were vulnerable and you were exploited.

Sahni said Ellison offered to give the government the rights to his life story so he would never profit from any publicity he received.

Prosecutors, who asked that Ellison receive zero time behind bars because of her cooperation, also considered the attention a factor in the sentence she already faces.

“Numbers of films and TV shows are in production about the downfall of FTX, which will only perpetuate the public scrutiny Ellison faces to this day,” prosecutors wrote in a filing before the sentencing hearing. “The government cannot think of another cooperating witness in recent history who has received a greater level of scrutiny and harassment.”

While the judge praised Ellison’s extensive cooperation, he said he still must spend time behind bars.

“For this to be such a serious case, for it to be a literal get-out-of-jail-free card — I don’t see a way to get to it,” Kaplan said.